Psalm 115

¹ Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.

² Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”

³ But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.

⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

⁵ They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see.

⁶ They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell.

⁷ They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat.

⁸ Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.

⁹ Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

¹⁰ House of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

¹¹ You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

¹² The LORD remembers us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.

¹³ He will bless those who fear the LORD, both small and great.

¹⁴ May the LORD increase you more and more, you and your children.

¹⁵ Blessed are you by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but he has given the earth to the children of men.

¹⁷ The dead don’t praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence,

¹⁸ but we will bless the LORD, from this time forward and forever more. Praise the LORD!

Around Psalm 115

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake